Mia Ljungberg Nevado: A Rosy Outlook on Travel and on Life

A citizen of the world and blissfully at home in hotels

World Traveler Mia's Rosy Past (and Present)

Meet TripSavvy writer Mia Ljungberg Nevado. This vivacious and popular reporter grew up in an exquisite little town in Denmark called Mariger, better known as "Town of the Roses." Mia's upbringing amongst roses eventually led her to meet John Nevado, her Swedish-Spanish husband, whose family founded Nevado Roses, one the most beloved rose farms in Ecuador.

Says Mia, "It was a match made in rose heaven" (and you can only imagine the flowers at the wedding!) After their marriage in 2006, Mia and John divided their time between two capitals: Quito, Ecuador, and Stockholm, Sweden. In 2015, they settled in the Hamptons outside of New York City with their two young sons, JohnJohn and BoBo.

Mia is at ease conversing and writing in several languages. Besides her native Danish, she's fluent in Swedish, Spanish, and English. Her explanation for sounding like an American: "Denmark is a small country very attuned to what's going on beyond our borders," she says. "The world's second language is American English, so modern Danes make it their business to learn. Guess how we do it? From TV shows like Dallas, Friends, Law & Order, and The Simpsons!"

Mia always wanted a career in travel. "When I was little, staying in a hotel made me feel like a princess in a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale," she says. "I still feel that way!" Mia studied Public Relations & Marketing at Copenhagen Business School. Then she specialized in Hotel Management at the Hotel School of Copenhagen, where her supervisor and mentor was legendary Swiss hotelier Alberto Kappenberger, whose son Roy was the longtime general manager of Radisson Blu Royal Hotel Copenhagen.

After graduating, Mia traveled the world as a honeymoon reporter for the biggest bridal magazine in Scandinavia. "The editors wanted a writer who knew the business of hotels and could recognize truly great hotel service and rooms," she says.

Next, Mia crossed over to management and became the youngest hotel General Manager in Denmark.Her property: the well-known Skovshoved Hotel just north of Copenhagen. Mia's behind-the-scenes background in hospitality and marketing makes her a natural "people person."

When she became a mom in 2010, Mia returned to freelance travel writing. She specializes in upscale family travel and high-end hotels. Besides TripSavvy, Mia contributes to travel and wedding media in Scandinavia and to the authoritative "Hot Lists" of Condé Nast Traveller (the U.K. edition). "I feel so at home in hotels," Mia admits. "In my dreams, I lead a pampered life in a luxury suite, with room service on speed dial!"

Mia has visited quite a few bucket-list travel destinations, including the Seychelles and Maldives Islands in the Indian Ocean ("utter tranquility"); Burma/Myanmar ("another century, another world"); Ethiopia ("an ancient culture and regal people"); Yunnan ("a magnificent part of China, where Shangri-la is really a town"); the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador ("what everyone says is true: it changes the way you see nature").

But Mia still has a few places to cross off her bucket list, including Bhutan in the Himalayas; St. Barth's island ("France in the Caribbean," she says); and "my new country, the USA! I'll start in my home state, New York."